by Steph Nuss
“Mom keeps texting me about grandma names—like what the baby should call her,” Maverick laughed, rolling his eyes. “So far, she’s picked Nana Jones, Grandma Char, or Mimi Char.”
“Nana Jones sounds like part of the mafia,” Fletcher rebutted, “Don’t let your baby call her that.”
“Yeah, and Mimi reminds me of that fat chick from The Drew Carey Show who always wore too much makeup,” Cash stated as he refilled a beer. “Definitely veto Mimi.”
“You guys are right.” Maverick looked over at me. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s really sweet that she’s thinking of grandma names,” I laughed, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and kissing his cheek. “Lord knows my mom isn’t.”
“Your mom didn’t give me permission to call her Lucy until she saw me in my wedding dress,” Elly quipped, taking a sip of her mixed drink. “Your baby will probably have to call her Mrs. Jennings until he or she is potty-trained.”
“No,” Maverick said firmly, shooting me a hard look. “I don’t care if she doesn’t want to be called grandma. She’s going to be a grandparent, and I won’t have my kid calling her Mrs. Jennings.”
“I know,” I sighed, secretly loving how little he cared about my mom’s opinion. “But I think your mom should go by Grandma Char.”
“Yeah,” Elly said, “I can see her as a Grandma Char.”
“I’ll let her know,” Maverick laughed, giving me another kiss.
*
When we got home from the bar, Maverick carried me into our bedroom where we found our sweet boy, Axel, laid out across our bed, sleeping.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Maverick groaned.
I tightened my hands around Maverick’s neck and laid my head back on his shoulder. “Ooh, he looks so peaceful. I don’t want to wake him.”
“We’re waking him,” Maverick said, setting me down on my side of the bed. He helped me out of my heels and my dress and then went to change. Axel was currently taking up his side, his head resting on Mav’s pillow. “He has his own bed.”
“He just missed us,” I said, petting Axel’s soft fur, consequently waking him up. I stretched out on my side, looking at him. “Hi, sweetie.”
He sighed restfully and stared at me.
“You’re kind of taking up the bed,” I laughed, rubbing his ears.
He pawed at me with his left leg, silently begging me to continue rubbing his ears. Maverick walked around the bed and tried shifting the Great Dane from the bed, but failed. Axel had grown exceptionally large over the last month, which made moving him rather difficult. Every time Maverick tried to move him, Axel grunted and lay there, refusing to get up from the bed.
“Let’s just let him sleep in here tonight,” I caved, looking into Axel’s puppy dog eyes.
“No.” Maverick shook his head, his hands on his hips. “Then he’ll want to sleep in here every night.”
“But—”
“No,” he repeated, leaning over Axel to touch my face. He raised his brows mischievously with a glint of hunger burning inside his dark irises. His fingers gently caressed my cheek and then skimmed down the curve of my neck and over the swell of my breasts. Dipping his hand into the cup of my bra, his fingers roamed over my hardened nipple, instantly driving my raging hormones to an unbearable brink. “Does that feel good?”
“Yes,” I sighed, rubbing my thighs together. He had this ability to unlock a deep, ravenous need inside me, casting a sexual spell over me with a hungry look there or a gentle touch here. He always knew exactly how to turn me on, but now that I was pregnant I didn’t have an off switch and he knew it. “You know it does.”
“Then help me get this beast off our bed, so we can fuck,” he growled, teasing my other breast.
“Okay!” I ran from the room and brought back a couple of dog treats from the kitchen. “Axel,” I sang, waving the treats in front of his nose, knowing he’d do damn near anything for a treat. And he listened to me more often than Mav because I always gave him treats.
He lifted his head and then sat up farther.
“Come on, boy!” I cooed, patting my thigh. “Let’s go!”
He jumped up from the bed and followed me into his room with his crate. I gave him his treats and showered him with love before locking him up, and then Maverick pulled me back into our room and slammed the door shut.
“I kind of feel bad for locking him up,” I said, staring at the closed door.
Maverick’s hands came around my waist, and a couple of his fingers disappeared into my panties, and any guilt over kicking Axel out instantly vanished. With his mouth hot and fervent against my neck and his fingers stroking the wetness between my legs, I nearly melted into a puddle right there on the bedroom floor; he felt so damn good. “Still feel bad?”
“God, no,” I whimpered, thrusting into his hand. “Don’t stop.”
“I don’t plan on it.” His other hand unclasped my bra, and it fluttered to the floor with the rest of my inhibitions. Scooping me into his arms, he tossed me onto the bed and pulled his boxers off. He eagerly tore my panties off, and then crawled on top of me and cupped my face. “We can sleep when we’re dead.”
Chapter Twenty
Maverick
Weeks went by, and soon it was May, and I started training Max. He was already in pretty good shape, so we focused on building more muscle and getting cut. He needed someone to push him, and that’s exactly what I did. I barked orders at him the first week, clearly trying to scare the fuck out of him for kissing Harper. But, by week two, I softened up. I wasn’t a hard-ass trainer. I pushed people, but I refused to discourage them. Max was a hard worker, and after two weeks of training him, I understood why Harper was such good friends with him.
He had a laid-back personality, and even when he was an asshole, he was nice about it. When fans approached him at the gym while we were training, he’d politely tell them to wait until after his set was done or after we were completely finished for the day. Who could hate a guy like that? When I first thought about training him, I thought we wouldn’t be able to get shit done because he’d be too busy posing for pictures or signing autographs for fans, but that wasn’t the case.
“So, same time next week?” Max asked. He was standing in the doorway of my office, and I was just getting ready to leave for the weekend.
“Yeah, that’ll work.” I said, slipping my phone into my pocket.
“Can we talk for a second?”
“Sure.” He walked into my office and closed the door behind him, and I took a seat on the edge of my desk, eager to get out of the gym for the weekend. “What’s up?”
“I just wanted to congratulate you,” he said, smiling. “Harper texted me and told me you two are expecting.”
“Thanks, man,” I said, nodding. He hadn’t talked about Harper at all since I started training him, and the two of them only talked via text, now. I felt somewhat responsible for their friendship falling out, so I tried my best to help them mend it. “We’ve been getting the nursery ready, and we installed this new security system.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket and clicked open the new security app. “We both have an app on our phones that allows us to check in on things at home whenever we’re away.” I turned the phone so he could see Axel snoozing in the living room.
“That’s awesome!” he exclaimed. “Which room are you guys using for the nursery?”
“The one right across the hall from our bedroom,” I answered, smiling. I didn’t care if he knew the layout to our home like the back of his hand. I could talk about our baby all damn day. Pulling up a picture of our latest sonogram, I turned the phone back to him. “There she is.”
“It’s a girl?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I laughed, shrugging. “I think we’re having a girl, but we haven’t found out yet. Hopefully they’ll be able to tell us at our next appointment.”
He nodded. “That’s really exciting. How’s Harper doing?”
“She’s d
oing well.” A nostalgic look washed across his face and I couldn’t blame him for missing her. They’d gone weeks without talking face-to-face, and I knew how much Harper missed her best friend. “Why don’t you come over and have a drink? You can catch up with Harper. I know she’d like to see you.”
“Yeah?” he asked, uncertainly.
“Yeah.” I tapped out a text message to Harper telling her to meet us at home. “Come on. Let’s go.”
“You’re okay with this?” he asked, worriedly.
I turned around to face him and smiled. “She’s the love of my life and the mother of my child, and you’re one of her best friends who she hasn’t talked to in weeks. Of course, I’m okay with you coming over and hanging out. What’s happened in the past is in the past. You’re never going to kiss her again, so we’re cool.”
“Thanks,” he laughed, relieved. “We can take my car.”
Harper
Maverick: Max is coming over. Meet us at home in 10.
Me: See you soon!
The minute I got Maverick’s message, Imani and I hopped into the car and headed home. I’d been out and about running errands and doing a little more shopping for the nursery. So far, we had the walls painted a light gray, since we couldn’t decide on a neutral baby color. We’d picked out a white crib and changing table and a white and gray wingback rocking chair. Today I’d bought a few different bed sets for us to choose from, hoping we could agree on one of them.
“I can’t believe Maverick asked Max to come over!” I exclaimed.
“Does Max know you’re pregnant?” Imani asked, looking at me in the review mirror.
It’s not like it was a secret anymore. After our huge announcement at Judge’s, the world had gotten wind of my pregnancy pretty quick, but, thankfully, the tabloids had better things to write about than our baby. “Yes, I texted him about it weeks ago.”
“Was he excited for you?” Imani questioned.
“Yeah,” I said, looking out the window. “At least, I think he was. It’s hard to tell through texts.”
“That’s understandable,” she said, turning into the parking garage.
She put the car in park and unlocked the doors, but when I opened my door, I was greeted by the rage of Diana O’Bannion and fear shot through me.
“Get out,” she demanded, holding the door open.
Glancing at the driver’s seat, I saw Imani being held back by a bald, burly man. I turned to face Diana, too scared to move. She dragged me out of the backseat forcefully and threw me up against the side of the car.
“What do you want?” I asked shakily, her crazy, blue eyes pinning me to the car.
“You know what I want!” Her hand flew back and she delivered a solid blow to my face, knocking me to the ground with a loud crack as my head hit the cement. I curled into a ball as pain shot through my head and my eyes filled with tears. I heard footsteps and looked up through blurred vision to find the big guy, who had been restraining Imani, standing over me. Panic set in and I started to tremble in terror. He delivered a swift kick to my ribs, causing my breath to escape my lungs with the vicious blow, but all I could think about was my baby. Please don’t let them hurt my baby.
“You will never be good enough for him!” Diana seethed.
After three more brutal kicks, I was barely conscious, trying my hardest to push back the nausea and pain and fight for air.
Diana smiled down at me like the devil come to life. “I told him to get rid of you, but instead he knocked you up. Guess I’ll have to do it myself.”
What?
She blurred again, and I heard the unmistakable sound of someone cocking a gun, and then all I saw was darkness. I heard sirens in the distance and cars screeching to a stop, but I was in a black hole, unable to see anything.
But then I heard his voice … and a different kind of darkness consumed me.
“Harper!” Maverick’s voice sounded desperate, yet so far away. “HARPER!”
Everything was just dark … and peaceful now.
Chapter Twenty-One
Maverick
“Harper!” I yelled again, willing her to wake up. When we pulled into the parking garage, I saw Imani first, motionless on the cement, and by the time I got to Harper, she was already unconscious, her face bruised. The sight of her curled up in a ball, hurt and unresponsive, completely undid me, and pumped adrenaline through my system at the same time. “Baby, wake up!”
“Sir, please move. We need to get her into the ambulance.” Two ambulances had arrived shortly after we did.
“I’m coming with you,” I urged, moving out of their way. “You have to let me come with you.”
“Are you family?” an EMS asked.
“I’m her boyfriend.” I looked over his shoulder at her. “And the father of her baby. She’s pregnant. Please, let me come with you.”
“Okay, let us get her loaded,” he said.
Max ran over to me. “Is she going to be okay? Please tell me she’s going to be okay!”
“I don’t know,” I said, shaking my head. “She won’t wake up.” Max paced around nervously, his hands on his head, as they loaded Harper onto a stretcher. All I cared about right now was her. She was my life. I couldn’t lose her. She had to wake up. Please, just wake up!
“Oh my god, it was Diana,” Max shuddered.
“She did this?” I asked incredulously, feeling as if someone had me in a chokehold.
“I think so.” He looked at me, his face twisted with guilt and tears in his eyes. “I saw two people run off when we pulled up, and one of them looked like her.” He looked up and around the parking garage and then pointed up to the corner. “Oh, thank god. There are cameras in here. They’ll have the whole thing on tape.”
Trembling with anger, I pulled a card from my wallet and handed it to him. “Will you call my dad for me? He’s a really good lawyer. He’ll make sure the police find her. Just tell him everything you know about Diana; every threat she’s ever made. Everything.”
“Yeah,” he said, nodding anxiously. “I’ll ride with Imani and call him. You go with Harper.”
“Thanks.” Climbing into the back of the ambulance, I took a seat next to the stretcher, and my stomach twisted into a million knots as I took in the extent of Harper’s injuries. She lay unconscious, bloody and bruised before me, and all I could do was hold her hand and pray for her and our baby.
Dear God, please let them be okay.
Harper
Pain. That was all I felt. My head ached and my chest felt like somebody was sitting on it, making it difficult to breathe. My side and back throbbed. It was as if the blood in my body had been drained and replaced with a substance that caused an intolerable amount of pain. I tried opening my eyes, but my eyelids refused to lift, and just the thought of trying to move made the pain worse. I was still in a state of darkness, too weak to do anything but listen. Monitors beeped around me and hushed voices spoke.
I’m in the hospital, I thought.
“She’s suffered a linear fracture to the skull, and there’s some bruising to her ribs, but her vitals are stable and strong.”
“But she’s still unconscious?” Maverick asked, his voice frantic. “When will she wake up? She’s going to wake up, right?”
“Yes, she’s going to wake up. Ms. Jennings suffered a major head injury, but her brain activity is normal and there’s no swelling. She’ll wake up when her body has taken the time to heal itself.”
“And what about the baby? Is the baby going to be okay?”
“Yes, the baby is doing fine.”
“Thank god,” Maverick sighed, sounding relieved.
Yes, our baby’s fine.
“We’ll have a nurse check in on her and the baby every hour to make sure everything remains stable and normal.”
“Okay, thank you.” The door shut and Maverick took my hand. “I’m so sorry, baby.”
Sorry for what? He didn’t do this to me. She did.
I told him to get ri
d of you, but instead he knocked you up.
Diana thought my baby was Max’s.
The fog billowed around me again, sucking me back into the dark corners of unconsciousness.
*
When the haze lifted, I felt even more pain. Every part of me hurt. My eyelids were heavy. My lips were sealed shut. Blind and mute, I was thankful my ears still worked. They were the only part of my body that didn’t ache. Tuning in to my surroundings, I heard Elly’s voice.
“Mav, you should get something to eat,” she said, “I’ll sit with her.”
“No,” he said, adamantly. “I want to be here when she wakes up.”
How long have I been out?
“I could bring you something,” Elly offered.
“I’m not hungry!” he snapped. I imagined him running his hand down his face, like he always did when he was frustrated. “I just want her to wake up.”
“I know,” Elly said, in a comforting tone. “And she will, when she’s ready.”
Maverick sighed. “I know.”
Footsteps approached, and Maverick’s warm grip on my hand tightened.
“How are you doing?” Elly asked, softly. She sounded closer now, and I grew more and more frustrated with my impaired functions.
“I just want her—”
“To wake up,” Elly said, finishing his sentence. “I know, but how are you feeling?”
“I feel …” He took a deep breath and exhaled. “Awful.”
“Why do you feel awful?” Elly asked, making me wonder the same thing.